Judge Bars Calif. Union From Striking

In an unprecedented ruling for California, a superior-court judge
has issued a temporary restraining order barring a teachers' union from
continuing a strike it has conducted intermittently for the past five
months against the Compton Unified School District.

The March 17 order by Judge Ricardo A. Torres is the first in the
state to bar a strike by a teachers' union following the completion of
state-required "impasse'' proceedings, which include third-party
mediation and fact-finding, union officials said last week.

The ruling is based on a preliminary opinion by the state's Public
Employment Relations Board declaring the Compton strike an unfair
pressure tactic.

In seeking the court order, the labor board essentially argued that
the recurring one-day walkouts were so disruptive to the district's
educational process that they constituted a violation of the state's
educational-employment-relations act, according to Jeffery Sloan,
general counsel for the board.

In essence, he said, the board contends that the legislature has not
given teachers the right to strike "when such a strike would disrupt
students' guaranteed statutory and constitutional right to an
education.''

Teachers in Compton, who have been working without a contract since
the beginning of the school year, have staged 16 walkouts since
November, when negotiations between the district and the 1,200-member
Compton Education Association, an affiliate of the National Education
Association, reached an impasse, mainly because of a disagreement over
pay increases.

The employment-relations board, which oversees labor disputes
involving public-school teachers and state employees, early last month
asked Judge Torres to halt the strike in the 28,000-student district
until it issues a final opinion on the matter.

Union's View

Officials of the teachers' union said they were worried that the
board's ruling in the Compton case would provide a precedent for
arguing that all strikes by teachers in the state are illegal.

They contended, however, that several decisions by the state's
Supreme Court have protected teachers' right to strike after they have
complied with mediation and fact-finding requirements.

"We completed the impasse procedures, and it's always been our
understanding that after those procedures are exhausted that teachers
have the right to strike,'' said Rosalind D. Wolf, a lawyer for the
California Teachers Association who is representing the Compton
teachers in court.

The teachers, whose pay scale is the lowest among the 43 school
systems in Los Angeles County, have demanded a 7 percent increase this
year and in each of the next two years.

The district has offered them a 5 percent raise this year and a 1
percent bonus; a 2 percent increase next year with a 1 percent bonus;
and a 3 percent increase the following year.

"If we accept something of that nature, we will be even further
behind at the end of three years,'' Wiley Jones, executive director of
the union local, argued.

Insufficient Resources

But Ted D. Kimbrough, Compton's superintendent of schools, said,
"The district just does not have sufficient resources to meet the
union's demands.''

After extended negotiations resulted in a deadlock over the salary
issue, both parties agreed to seek the help of the employment-relations
board, which assigned a mediator, and eventually a fact-finder, to help
in the negotiations. But those efforts failed, and the teachers began
the walkouts.

In February, the district sought additional help from the labor
board, the superintendent said, because the strike "had really impaired
our instructional program.''

The "rolling'' nature of the job action had resulted in the loss of
many instructional hours beyond those lost during the actual walkouts,
Mr. Kimbrough maintained.

"We took the position that a strike is not legal if it impairs the
public good,'' he said. "It is unfortunate that we had to do this, but
our first responsibility is to provide an education for our
children.''

When the district first asked the labor board to rule the job action
illegal, the board did not act, because, after an initial
investigation, two of four members voted against the district's request
for injunctive relief.

Early last month, however, one of the two opponents of the
district's request resigned, and the board subsequently voted 2 to 1 to
seek an end to the strike.

Appeal Promised

"It is hard to tell what [the board] means by this decision,'' Ms.
Wolf said. "We don't know if they will now find that every teacher
strike in the state is disruptive and, therefore, seek to enjoin them,
or whether they will find that only some strikes are disruptive.''

Judge Torres is scheduled to hold a hearing on the issues next
Monday, after which he will decide whether to dissolve his restraining
order or to issue a preliminary injuction.

Such an injunction would prohibit any further strike activity by the
union until the labor board holds hearings and issues its final
ruling.

That process could take up to two years, Mr. Sloan said.

The union has vowed to the challenge any injunction and the board's
ruling on the broader strike issue in the state court of appeals.

Ground Rules for Posting
We encourage lively debate, but please be respectful of others. Profanity and personal attacks are prohibited. By commenting, you are agreeing to abide by our user agreement.
All comments are public.